Pew Research: “The 116th Congress includes the first two Muslim women ever to serve in the House of Representatives and is slightly more religiously diverse overall than the prior Congress. Still, 88% of the members are Christian, compared with 71% of U.S. adults overall.”
The Partisan Split on the Stock Market
“Americans’ predictions for the stock market this year are almost completely determined by party, with Democrats as pessimistic about the coming year’s stock performance as Republicans are optimistic,” according to an Axios/SurveyMonkey poll.
“The two parties are almost exact mirror images of each other, with independents caught in the middle. It’s a good reminder of how much people’s political views can shape their expectations for their personal finances, not just politics.”
White House Staff Heads to Camp David
President Trump and his senior staff “are headed on a group vacation — all at the direction of new acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney,” ABC News reports.
“White House senior staffers will spend the weekend at Camp David… Trump will visit the retreat and lead meetings, but only on Sunday.”
Easing Pain of Shutdown Took Pressure Away
Washington Post: “About 75 percent of the funding for federal agencies actually got approved in September, on time, including such critical entities as the Pentagon, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration. And then Congress moved the deadline for this year’s funding for the remaining agencies till four days before Christmas.”
“This meant that, once the shutdown started, the most important services provided by the federal government — soldiers’ salaries, veteran benefits, Social Security checks — went on, business as usual.”
“And the services that closed — federal museums, services at national parks, delayed tax refunds — have slowly shuttered over the holiday season, when the public was not paying much attention, and will continue over the next month.”
Quote of the Day
“The visuals of new House should send a shiver through anyone who cares about future of Republican Party. One side looks like America and our future, the other looks like board meeting of a 1950’s corporation. A basic law of politics: be for the future not past.”
— GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, on Twitter.
Trump Has Strengthened Pelosi
First Read: “And if you want to know why the shutdown pressure is on McConnell, just look at how Trump has unified House Democrats. The drama of whether or not Nancy Pelosi was going to get the votes she needed to be speaker ended the moment after last month’s Oval Office meeting with Trump.”
“And, of course, Pelosi got the votes she needed on Thursday.”
“Trump has done more to help Pelosi — and unify Democrats — than anyone out there.”
Roberts Will Not Seek Re-Election to Senate
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), “an unapologetic Republican and champion of Midwest agriculture, said he wouldn’t seek a fifth term and intends to retire at close of a 40-year career representing Kansas in Washington, D.C., the Topeka Capital Journal reports.
Politico: “His retirement has already sparked interest in his seat from a number of other Kansas Republicans, heralding a potentially crowded 2020 primary — though Democrats hope they can make the race competitive after winning the governorship in 2018.”
House Democrats Plan Bill on Trump Tax Returns
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other Democrats are set to unveil an outline of the legislation Friday in the Capitol. The Washington Post obtained an advance blueprint of the bill, which will move through several House committees over the coming weeks and is tentatively set for floor consideration early this year.”
“Under the blueprint, presidents, vice presidents and candidates for those offices would all be required to release 10 years of returns — a move prompted by Trump’s refusal to release any returns throughout the 2016 campaign up to the present day, breaking with the practice of bother Democratic and Republican presidents in recent decades.”
Warren Fires Up Iowa Democrats
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “strode into Iowa Friday with all the look of a presidential candidate, igniting pent-up Democratic frustration with her brand of fiery liberalism in the premier caucus state,” the AP reports.
Said Warren: “It’s time to dream big and fight hard, not just for those at the top, but for an America that works for everyone.”
New York Times: “Though Ms. Warren’s campaign is still nascent — she announced the formation of an exploratory presidential committee on Monday — Friday’s event had all the hallmarks of a candidate meant to last: a laser-focused message on income inequality, a robust campaign staff shepherding hordes of interested reporters, and an excited supporter base eager to hear more.”
Supreme Court Will Take Up Gerrymandering Cases
“The Supreme Court once again will take up unresolved constitutional questions about partisan gerrymandering, agreeing Friday to consider rulings from two lower courts that found congressional maps in North Carolina and Maryland so extreme that they violated the rights of voters,” the Washington Post reports.
“The North Carolina map was drawn by Republicans, the Maryland districts by the state’s dominant Democrats.”
Trump Falsely Claims Past Presidents Supported Wall
“President Trump claimed without evidence on Friday that past presidents have privately confided to him that they regret not building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border,” Politico reports.
“But at least three of the four living U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — did no such thing.”
Trump Says Shutdown Could Last Years
President Trump “threatened to keep the U.S. government partially shut for months or years on Friday after he and Democratic leaders failed to resolve their dispute over Trump’s request for $5.6 billion to build a wall on the Mexican border,” Reuters reports.
Said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer: “He said he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.”
First Read: “There are usually two ways these kind of political impasses get solved: 1) the deal gets bigger — a lot more goodies and incentives get introduced to find a compromise, or 2) one side ends up caving.”
“And if you’re looking to see which side might eventually cave, look at the side with the biggest fissures and the most to lose.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“And when your son looks at you and says, ‘Momma, look you won. Bullies don’t win.’ And I said, ‘Baby, they don’t.’ Because we’re going to go in there, we’re going to impeach the motherfucker.”
— Newly sworn-in Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), quoted by CBS News.
Washington Post: “Tlaib offered no apologies for her remark, which dominated talk on Capitol Hill one day after Democrats took power in the House and drew criticism from party leaders who said it was not productive. It gave Trump an opening, and he seized the opportunity to portray Democrats as unfairly persecuting him.”
Judge Extends Term for Mueller Grand Jury
“A federal judge in Washington has extended the term of a grand jury hearing evidence uncovered by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, in his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential race and the Trump campaign,” the New York Times reports.
“The jurors, impaneled in July 2017, will continue to meet for up to six months.”
Trump Threatens Declaring National Emergency on Border
“President Trump raised the possibility on Friday of declaring a national emergency to let him to build a wall on the Southwest border without congressional approval, hours after Department of Homeland Security officials requested additional support to erect temporary barriers between the United States and Mexico,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump’s comments followed a contentious meeting with Democratic leaders at the White House. It failed to produce a deal to end the 13-day partial shutdown of the federal government, a funding lapse that began with the president’s insistence that Congress allocate $5.6 billion for the wall.”
Said Trump: “We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly.”
Fed Chair Would Not Quit If Trump Asked Him
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that he would not resign if President Trump were to ask him to, Politico reports.
“While Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell on Twitter for the central bank’s campaign of steady rate hikes, the Fed chairman said there has been no direct contact between him and the president in recent months. Still, he said he would be open to meeting with Trump.”
Congress Will Probe Decision to Lift Sanctions on Russian
“Congress is reviewing the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions on companies owned by Oleg Deripaska, an influential Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin,” the New York Times reports.
“The reviews could fuel a congressional effort to block the administration’s decision, which came after an aggressive lobbying and legal campaign against the sanctions by Mr. Deripaska’s corporate empire.”
FBI Investigating Fake Texts Sent to GOP Lawmakers
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating fake text messages sent to some House Republican lawmakers from someone impersonating a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Several House Republicans have received the texts, and at least one member has been repeatedly engaging with the imposter, who posed as Alyssa Farah, Mr. Pence’s press secretary and a former House staffer.”
